


Unwelcome Silence

by jbn42



Series: Connections [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A little history and wisdom, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Tree, Force-Sensitive Poe Dameron, Kid Poe, No relationship can be perfect, Poe in Trouble, Rey To The Rescue, Rey can't hear him, blowing stuff up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-03 02:19:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13331439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jbn42/pseuds/jbn42
Summary: Poe is off on a mission, but Rey knows something is wrong. She can't hear him, but she knows.





	1. Something Isn't Right

“Rey, you need to sleep.” General Organa’s low voice is uncharacteristically gentle.

Rey jumps at the sound nonetheless, dropping the new lightsaber base she’s tinkering with. The older woman puts a hand on Rey’s shoulder and sinks down on the bench seat next to her. It’s the middle of the night, and they’re in the common area of the Falcon, parked in their current base, the one where they’ve been trying to rebuild since Crait.

“I can’t, General. Something is wrong.” She shakes her head vehemently. She’s exhausted because for the past forty-eight hours or so, she’s been plagued with flashes from the Force, screaming at her that something is amiss. She picks up the saber without looking at Leia. “He still hasn’t checked in, has he?”

Leia sighs. “No. He hasn’t. But Rey, Poe is on a scouting mission for a new back-up base site. He may have just had to go comms silent. I’m sure he’s fine.” Leia sounds like she’s trying to convince herself as much as she’s trying to convince Rey.

“All due respect, General, if he was all right, I would know it, just like I know that he’s not.” She finally looks up at Leia, eyes red-rimmed and hair wildly out of place. “And you know it too, or you wouldn’t be sitting here. When can Chewie and I go? We need to go. Soon.” Tears well, and Rey blinks them back. “Please, General.” The last words are barely a whisper, and as she says them, she wraps her free hand around the ring that hangs on a chain around her neck, Poe’s mother’s ring.

Rey’s movement, touching the ring that until he left last week hung around Poe’s neck, isn’t lost on Leia. The older woman rises. “He has a scheduled checkpoint in four standard hours. If he misses it, you and Chewie have a go. And Finn has been pestering me, too. Take him and Rose with you, would you? My only condition is that you go to your room and try to sleep for at least three hours. I can let Chewie know that he needs to make sure the Falcon is ready to go, and I’ll alert Finn and Rose as well.”

Rey jumps up and hugs Leia. “Thank you.”

Leia shakes her head as Rey releases her. “I’d rather you go with permission, and I know you’re really sitting here on this ship because you were planning to go, clearance or no.” Rey opens her mouth to argue, but Leia holds up a hand. “You have a perfectly serviceable room where you could be working on your saber. I know that when you moved in with him, Poe even got you a special workbench for your shared quarters.”

Rey blinks in surprise, making Leia chuckle for the first time since Poe went dark on them two days ago, five days into his two-week mission. She pats Rey on the shoulder again. “Who do you think gave him permission to go find it?”

Leia leaves, and for whatever reason, it’s that small revelation that makes the dam break. She packs her saber away, leaving it there on the Falcon, and she steals back to their quarters with tears sliding silently down her cheeks. When she finally gets to their room, she steps in and closes and locks the door behind her.

Grabbing the soft shirt that Poe often wears to bed, she strips off her own clothing and slips his shirt over her head. She curls up on their bunk, hand wrapped around his mother’s ring and his scent all around her, and she lets the sobs come. In minutes, she cries herself to fitful sleep.

Almost three-and-a-half hours later, she wakes up shivering. The Force shimmers and buzzes around her, and despite the warmth of the room, she’s freezing. She also feels on edge, not anxiety or fear exactly, just wariness and a need to be on guard. She blinks a few times before breathing out, “Poe, where are you?” In addition to speaking aloud, she thinks the words hard, but all she gets are flashes of a forest that could be almost anywhere. Then, the Force seems to fade.

“Kriff!” she swears. Standing up, she goes into the refresher and gets cleaned up and dressed. As she looks in the mirror and pulls her hair back, she thinks about the images when she woke up. She is certain that it was Poe trying to tell her where he is. They can mentally communicate with clear words across relatively short distances, but he’s several systems away. To be honest, she’s amazed that he’s able to reach her even if it’s just images and sensations.

She throws some of her clothes and rations in a pack, and then, just in case, throws a change of his clothes in the bag too. With a thought to how cold she was when she woke up, she grabs her heavy poncho and stuffs it and his jacket into her pack. When she has the bag packed, she puts on her blaster holster and slips the weapon into it, grabs her staff, and steps out the door to head to command with the pack over one shoulder and the staff over the other.

When she enters the control room, she sees Finn and Chewie standing near Leia at the communications panel. Finn spots her and comes over, taking the pack from her. He then gives her a one-armed hug. She clings to her friend for a moment, determined to keep her composure this time. “Anything?” She asks even though she already knows the answer.

Finn steps back. “No. Still silence. Rose is already on the Falcon, installing a comms enhancer that she’s been working on. We’re packed up and ready to go. I think Chewie has finally started to really like Poe. You should see the number of weapons he loaded up.”

Despite the knot in her chest, she smiles a little. Finn nods at that, and he takes her hand, pulling her over to Chewie and Leia, the general asking the comms officer some questions. When they get to them, Finn drops Rey’s hand as Chewie pulls her protectively to his side.

Leia looks up and starts to speak, but Rey beats her to it. “He was due to check in ten minutes ago and didn’t, correct?” Leia nods. “The planet he’s on is cold, at least for part of the day. And it’s forested, green. So, we can narrow our search area based on his projected route. I don’t think he’s been captured; he’s on edge but not afraid, at least not yet.”

They all stare at her for a moment before Leia rolls her eyes. “What are you waiting for? Go.” She makes a shooing motion with her hand, and Rey almost cries in relief. Chewie and Finn head towards the hangar, Finn still carrying Rey’s bag. As Rey follows them, the general calls out to her. When Rey turns back, Leia says, “Go get him back, Rey. And may the Force be with you.”

“Will do, General.” Rey tries her best to look surer than she feels. “We’ll be back with him before you can notice that we’re gone.”

*****

When Rey gets to the Falcon, they pull up a star map of Poe’s expected route. While the timeframes were loose, a single fighter slipping in and out of planets to recon potential back-up bases for them, they are able to narrow down the list of possible places where he could be to two planets and one moon, all within the same star system on the far Outer Rim.

She and Chewie head for the cockpit and take the Falcon up, jumping to hyperdrive as quickly as they can. The first stop is half-a-day’s ride, so they now have some time. Chewie offers to keep an eye on the controls – she knows he probably sits in the cockpit alone and thinks about Han – so she gives him a firm hug and leaves him to it, knowing that he wants to be by himself for right now.

She wanders into the common area to find Rose at work on the lightsaber, spread out across the table. “Where’s Finn?”

Rose looks up. “I have him getting us all some breakfast.” She peers at Rey. “Are you all right? I’d be going crazy if it was Finn.” She blushes lightly.

Nodding and squeezing her friend’s shoulder, Rey sits down next to Rose. She nods to the lightsaber. “How is it going?” The slightly smaller-than-before kyber crystal sits on the table next to it, and Rey picks it up, feeling a slight vibration from it. There had been one small crack in it after the old saber broke, but Chewie had buffed it out for her. She is oddly attached to it, so she hopes it will work when she and Rose get the casing fixed. This time, the metal they’re using is much stronger than the old, and much less likely to break.

“Well,” Rose replies, “Honestly, Rey, once I gave you some ideas, you did all the work. I think it’s ready.”

“Really?” Rey is surprised. She figured that Rose would have to do a lot of work on it after she herself did the basic construction.

“Really!” Rose slides the weapon to Rey. “These things seem complicated, but from looking at the broken one, I realized that they are actually simpler than they appear.” She watches Rey hesitate, and she offers, “The only way you can find out if the crystal will work is to actually try it, Rey.”

Rey stares at the weapon and then at the crystal in her palm. What if it doesn’t work? When will she have time to go find another crystal? And does it even matter to her if she loses Poe? The tears well again as she remembers something. Before an alarmed Rose can ask her what’s wrong, Rey whispers, “He said he’d go with me if I have to find a new crystal.”

Understanding flashes across the smaller woman’s face. “We’ll find him.”

“I need to believe that, but it’s hard right now. I can’t hear him in my head at all, and when we’re both on base, he’s always there, sometimes just a quiet, comforting buzz in the back of my head, sometimes his voice as if he’s right next to me. His other missions until now have been short, a day or so. Those were hard. But I can’t hear him and haven’t really for days except for flashes and dreams. I need to hear him, Rose. I’m going crazy in the quiet.” She tries to lighten the moment. “And you know he talks a lot. It’s really never all that quiet except when we’re asleep.”

Rose smiles, shaking her head and rubbing Rey’s back comfortingly, and Rey jumps a little when a large hand hits her shoulder. With his other hand, Finn puts a tray of food down on the table, and he sits on the other side of Rey. She turns into him, and he envelopes her in a strong hug. “Rosie’s right, Rey. My girl always is, you know? We’ll find him.”

Rey nods silently, smiling despite herself at Finn’s sweet nickname for Rose and getting herself back under control. She leans back from Finn, and he gets up and sets some food out for them. With a small sniffle, Rey says, “Thanks, both of you.” She sighs.

Rose nods and takes a large plate of food up to Chewie in the cockpit. When they’re alone, Rey elbows Finn, who sat back down after arranging the food. “She’s wonderful, Finn. I’m so glad you have her.”

He grins, and it lightens her heart a little, at least for a moment. “I’m lucky to, Rey. She’s so much better than I am. But I’m trying to live up to whatever it is she sees in me.”

“Finn, she sees the same thing Poe and I see. Strength and bravery.”

He shakes his head. “You and Poe are brave. Rose is brave. I’m just lucky. And often in the right place at the right time.”

“Stop that right now, Finn. You saved me on Starkiller and nearly got yourself killed in the process. You tried to save what was left of the fleet by walking right back onto a First Order ship. You are just as brave as the rest of us. You need to go easier on yourself.”

Embarrassed and clearly wanting to change the subject, he grabs a cup of caf and motions to the saber and the crystal. “Think it’s going to work?”

Rose comes back in, and she sits close to Finn. “Try it out, Rey.”

Rey stares at the saber again for a moment before nodding resolutely. She picks up the crystal, and she slips it gently into the chamber inside the weapon, clicking it shut and standing up. She moves clear of the table, takes a deep breath, and activates it. As if it always has, the blue glowing beam jumps forth from the new casing. After Rey swoops it carefully around a few times, both Rose and Finn let out joyful whoops.

Chewie comes from the front of the ship, clearly curious. He growls in approval at the sight of Rey with her lightsaber in her hand. He turns and opens a drawer, pulling out a floating sparring sphere. He tosses it to her and explains what it is. Tears come to her eyes, and she turns off her lightsaber. She puts the saber and the sphere down and walks to Chewie, throwing her arms around him in a hug.

Rose and Finn look confused, so Rey turns to them and explains, “That sphere is the same one Luke used right here with Ben Kenobi, the first time he worked with a lightsaber.”

She gives them a quick smile, and she activates the orb. With a pat to her shoulder, Chewie heads back to the cockpit. Activating her lightsaber, Rey sighs and thinks that at least this will give her something to do while they head towards the Outer Rim system where they think Poe likely is.

*****

A few hours later, they arrive at the first planet they wanted to check. They stay in orbit, scanning the planet for any types of beacons. Rose also pulls up her new comms enhancements, scanning for any local communications equipment that is active. Most importantly, Rey finds a quiet corner of the Falcon and tries to reach out to Poe via the Force. If he’s on the planet, there’s at least a chance that they can truly hear each other.

She gets nothing back but the same silence she’s heard for most of the past week. About to give up, she thinks as clearly as she can via the Force, “Respond, Poe, where are you? Is it a moon?” The silence persists, but she’s suddenly hit by a warm wave, almost a feeling of relief. Her eyes widen, and she thinks hard again. “The moon then? Do whatever you did again, Poe, if that’s right. I felt it.” The wave hits her again, and she almost sobs, echoing the feeling of relief. “We’re coming, Flyboy. Sit tight.”

With that, she jumps to her feet and sprints to the cockpit. When she gets there, she pushes past Finn in the doorway and climbs straight into the pilot’s chair. She begins flipping switches, preparing to make a short hyperspace jump. Knowing that the rest of them are staring at her, she catches her breath and says, “Brace for the jump to light speed. He’s on the moon of the next planet over, the forested one.”

“Are you sure, Rey?” Finn sounds skeptical. He understands that she and Poe are Force-connected, but he doesn’t always believe just how strong it is.

She shoots a look over her shoulder at him. “Yes. Now sit, Finn. I don’t want you to go flying out of the cockpit.”

He complies quickly. Rose and Chewie are already in their seats, so Rey makes the jump. It’s a much shorter trip this time, as it’s to another planet and moon in the same system as the first. When they get into orbit around the clearly heavily forested moon, they start scanning again. Rey, still in the pilot’s seat, tries to reach out to Poe. She makes herself relax and she thinks hard again. “Poe, we’re here, in orbit. Where are you? Can you turn on your comm if it isn’t already?”

She feels the same warm wave, and suddenly she can also feel him in the back of her mind, warm and alive and real, even if still wary and exhausted. “Rose, is your enhanced comms system working?”

Rey hears a click. “Yes, up and running.”

With that, Rey opens a comm channel to his last known frequency. “Poe, this is the Falcon. Can you read? Poe?”

Seconds later, there is the scratch of a connection, and then his tired voice. “Hey, Beautiful. I’ve missed your voice.”

All of them in the cockpit sag in relief, and Rey has to swallow a sob. After a moment, she replies, “Same to you, Commander. Where are you?”

He sighs. “In a place you can’t get to. Almost three days ago, I hit some sort of magnetic storm and lost control of my X-Wing. BB-8 and I punched out, had to drop in through the trees, but the forest is so thick that you won’t be able to get anywhere near close enough to pick me up, especially not in the Falcon. I’m still, if what I saw before I had to eject is right, about a two-day walk from the nearest place where you could get to me.”

He pauses for a moment, then goes on, “And I think I set off an alarm of some sort when I landed. There’s a group of First Order scouts here, arrived yesterday. I’m not sure, but I think they’re trying to track me, but they aren’t anywhere close yet.” As if he can read her racing mind, he adds, “And don’t you dare do anything stupid, Beautiful. I’m not in perfect shape, but I can walk for a couple days. I’ll be fine.”

“Kriff. All right, Poe. Hold on a moment.” She looks at Rose. “Can you vector in on his location?”

The tiny mechanic nods. “I already have. He must be on short-range comms. I don’t think anyone would pick him up, even with the right frequency, without my equipment.”

“Thanks. Tell Chewie where to take us. I’m going to go get ready to drop.” She pats Chewie on the shoulder, and he growls but nods begrudgingly. Rose just pats her arm as she passes. Finn follows her, and his reaction is not nearly so obliging.

“Rey, what do you think you’re doing?” He sounds outraged, but she just ignores him.

She clips her new lightsaber to her belt and puts her blaster in its holster. She then pulls her poncho out of her pack, pulling the garment over her head. That makes room in the pack, so she adds a med kit, extra bacta gel and patches, water purifier, an extra empty bag, and another blaster from Chewie’s stash. She then closes the pack and adds a rolled-up blanket and tent to the outside, and she shoulders the whole thing. Once it’s secure, she picks up a long length of rope and throws her staff over her shoulder.

“You are not jumping out of this ship, Rey. No matter how close we can get to the canopy. Are you crazy?” Finn sounds more upset by the moment, and she whirls on him as she pulls on a pair of fingerless leather gloves.

“What if it was Rose, Finn. Or even me? Would you stay here?” Her eyes blaze, and she shakes her head. “You know you wouldn’t.” She spins and heads for the cockpit. “Chewie, Rose, are we close?”

Rose stands up, taking in the fact that Rey clearly has plans to exit. She rattles off some coordinates. “Meet us there in two days.” She shoves a small map into an open pocket on Rey’s pack. “Both this location and the target location are marked.”

She thanks Rose as Chewie yells in protest. Rey just shakes her head at him. “Are we close to him, Chewie?” At his clearly reluctant admission that they should be right over him, Rey responds, “Then get me as low as you can. I’m dropping down to him.”

He levels a look at her, but after a moment, he calls his agreement. She nods back. “Thank you.” She puts a comm in her ear. “Comm me when we’re in position, Chewie. As close to the tree canopy as possible. And once I’m down, also call back to the base to let them know we found him but will be a few days.” She spins again and heads away from the cockpit. Finn is waiting for her at the controls for the ramp.

He doesn’t argue, just silently holds out a helmet. She shoots him a grateful look and straps the helmet on. He then wraps her up in a bear hug and whispers, “You both come back safe, Rey. BB-8 too. That’s an order.”

She steps away and gives him a weak smile. “Yes sir.” She then gets the green light from Chewie, and she hits the button to drop the ramp.

They must be near Poe, because she suddenly hears his voice in her head, as clear as if he was standing right in front of her. “Kriff no, Rey. You are not jumping out of that ship.”

With one last look at Finn, she steps carefully out onto the ramp. They’re only three or four meters above the thick tree canopy, which is whipping around in the wind caused by the Falcon, just adding to the stiff wind already blowing here on the surface. “Thank you, Chewie,” she says over the comm. Then she thinks, “Kriff yes, Flyboy, I am definitely jumping out of this ship.”

Before he can reply, she scans the tree tops and sees what she’s looking for. A large branch is clearly visible, reminding her of the beams inside the guts of the old Star Destroyer on Jakku. Without wasting time to overthink it, she launches herself forward, using the Force to guide her jump. A moment later, she hits the branch, nearly falling but managing instead to climb up on it. She straddles the large branch and waves them off, saying, “Chewie, I’m good. Get out of the atmosphere. We’ll see you in two days.”

With that, the Falcon’s hatch closes, and the ship shoots along the tree canopy for a while, stopping periodically, trying to confuse any First Order scouts. Rey uses the rope to tie off on the large branch. She then slowly begins to descend through the canopy. The trees still move with the wind, but it’s less with the Falcon’s departure. She has a fairly clear view of the ground. She can also feel Poe (who is pretty mad at her) approaching. Looking down, she can see why a rescue wouldn’t work, as it would be nearly impossible for a person at 100% to climb into the canopy – and she can sense that he isn’t 100%.

Without waiting for him to arrive, she scales down the tree, moving until she’s about five meters up and runs out of rope. She tenses when she hears a crashing noise in the forest, but a moment later, BB-8 barrels out of the underbrush. She can’t stop the grin, and she lets go of the rope, using the Force to help her safely jump the rest of the way.

By the time her boots hit the forest floor, she feels Poe behind her before she sees him. She whirls around, and her eyes widen. His hair is more unkempt than usual, and his face is scratched and bruised, a particularly nasty bruise showing along his jaw under the week’s-worth of beard growth. His orange flight suit is torn in several places, and she can see a lot of dried blood on his left leg, which he seems to be favoring. But his eyes are the same warm brown as always, and she almost collapses in relief at seeing him in one piece.

Unfortunately, he also looks livid with her, and tension radiates from him. “Damn it, Rey, what were you thinking?”

Ignoring his anger, she rips off her helmet and drops the pack and her staff, and she throws herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her body to his. Before she can speak, she starts shaking like a leaf. She buries her face in his neck. “Oh, Beautiful,” he breathes out, pulling her tight to him. “I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head and whispers, “Not your fault.” She takes a shaky breath. “I couldn’t hear you. I couldn’t hear you at all. I knew you weren’t all right. I knew something was wrong.”

He pulls back and presses a kiss to her mouth. She grips the front of his flight suit, leaning up into the kiss as if she’ll never get a chance to kiss him again. One of her hands moves to his face, and his hiss of pain when she touches the largest bruise makes her jump back. “I’m sorry!” She suddenly feels how much pain he’s in, not just in his face, but in his leg too. She furrows her brow. “Sit.”

He starts to argue, but she’s not having it. “Sit, Commander, and don’t hide your pain from me again.” She goes to get the pack and carries it with her as she follows him.

He sheepishly and gingerly moves to a nearby fallen log, carefully sinking down on it while stretching his injured leg out straight. “Rey, I’m sorry, I didn’t want you jumping down here with me. If you knew I was hurt…”

She stops digging through the pack long enough to glare at him. “You could have been perfectly fine, and I wouldn’t have hesitated, especially not after you told me about the scouts.” She pulls out the change of clothes she brought for him, the medkit and the bacta gel and patches, coming over and kneeling next to him. She lays the clothes out next to him on the log.

Standing up, she silently starts to help him get out of the flight suit. She gets the bacta gel and a fabric pad, dabbing some gel on each cut and gash she encounters. When she gets to his waist and begins to peel the suit down his legs, he hisses again. “Left leg. The fabric is sticking.”

She nods, getting a pair of scissors from the medkit. She gently cuts the fabric of his flight suit away so that she can pull it off of him without hurting him more. “Better?” she asks softly.

He reaches down and cups her cheek with his palm. “Yes. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, but you may not be so grateful when I have to get the fabric out of the wound.” She removes his boots and pulls his suit the rest of the way off, leaving him in his shorts. She looks at his left leg and cringes on his behalf.

She pours some water from her pack on the seven-inch gash on his left thigh, trying to loosen the fabric. She lets that sit for a moment, finishing up the bacta on his chest, back, and arms. It dries quickly in the cool air of the small moon, and he shivers a little. She blinks. “I was cold when I woke up today. So cold.”

He nods. “It was strange. I knew you couldn’t really hear me, but I could definitely feel you.” She looks up at him, and he admonishes her, “Rey, you can’t just not sleep when I’m away. That isn’t sustainable.”

She looks back down, grabbing his shirt and helping him pull it over the dried gel. When he has his shirt on, she turns her attention back to his leg. The gash is jagged and ugly, but it doesn’t look too deep. She frowns and turns back to the medkit, pulling out some tweezers. Instead of speaking, she thinks, “I’m sorry, Flyboy, this is going to hurt.”

His hands drop to the log, and he digs his fingertips into the wood. He thinks back, “It’s all right, Beautiful. Just do it fast.”

She gets an end of the fabric and pulls it free of the gash in one stroke. He closes his eyes and grunts in pain. “I need to clean it, Poe.” He nods, remaining silent and keeping his eyes closed, his fingers gripping the wood tighter.

As gently as possible, she cleans the dirt and debris out of his leg. Once it’s clean, she covers the gash with bacta gel, and then she covers the gash with a bacta patch for good measure. After that, she firmly wraps the whole thing with a bandage from the medkit. When she’s done, she feels his whole body relax. She finishes covering the few small cuts on his legs with bacta gel, and it also dries quickly. She grabs the pants she brought for him, and she helps him pull them on. She even puts his boots back on him.

She realizes that his skin also feels warm, likely the start of an infection. She goes back to the medkit and gives him an injection of antibiotics. “Do you have a blaster?”

He shakes his head. “Lost it in the crash.”

She passes him the spare one from the pack, and he makes sure the safety is on and tucks it in the cargo pocket on the right leg of his pants. She also passes him his jacket, and he shrugs into it and closes his eyes again. “Do you need food?”

He shakes his head. “Had some ration bars and water about an hour ago.”

“All right.” She pulls out the smaller, empty bag and tucks his ruined flight suit into it. Then, she pulls the tent and blanket from the outside of the pack and tucks it inside now that there’s room. She puts the medkit in on top, but before she closes it up, she asks, “Do you need a painkiller? Tell me the truth, Poe.”

He nods. “Yes.” He must sense her shock at his honest reply. Opening his eyes, he looks down at her. “I hit a tree at a very high rate of speed, Beautiful. Everything hurts right now. This was a pretty place to crash, but it was also a painful place to crash. Also, aircraft-killing magnetic storms, so this place? Definitely not so good for a base.”

She chuckles and gives him another injection, this one loaded with a painkiller. As she finishes loading the pack and pulling out Rose’s map, she can feel his pain start to ebb away. When it seems to be at least somewhat at bay, she shows him the map. “Which way from here, Flyboy, and can you actually walk?”

He rolls his eyes and takes the map from her. He points over her shoulder. “That way. And yes, but can I use your staff?” At her raised eyebrow, he gives her a lopsided grin. “As a walking stick, Rey.”

She laughs softly and passes it to him. “Really, Poe, can you walk?”

“I can, and yes, I’ll tell you when I need to stop. And I can take the bag with my flight suit in it.” She starts to argue, but he just says, “Rey, my leg hurts, but I can carry a small bag.”

She nods begrudgingly and hands it over and then shoulders into the pack. BB-8 rolls up a moment later, surprising them both. The little droid was probably quietly standing watch nearby. Rey crouches down to greet him. “You seem to have fared better than your master, little one.” She pats the little droid, who beeps happily at the attention.

Poe rolls his eyes, pulling himself upright using the staff. He waivers a little on his feet, and Rey stands up, alarmed. He puts his free hand on her shoulder, steadying himself. “I’m all right.” He blinks a few times before focusing on her again. “And BB-8 fared better because while I hit a kriffing tree, he landed in a giant pile of leaves.”

They start walking then, BB-8 rolling ahead of them. He moves carefully, but definitely more easily than before. As much as he protested her coming down here and as much as he was upset with her, he’s also damned grateful. She reaches down and takes his free hand, she murmurs, “You’re welcome, Poe.” As they walk hand-in-hand, him using the staff for support, she asks, “Where are the scouts?”

He motions behind them. “That way. Catching up but I think still a decent distance away. And I’ll admit that with the clean up, the meds, and the staff, I’m moving a lot faster.”

“You think we’ll be able to safely rest tonight?”

“If we can find a defensible spot. I’m not entirely sure that they’re even chasing, though. They might think that I died in the crash. My X-Wing exploded on impact.” He sighs in frustration at that. “And I’d just gotten it configured the way I like it.”

She squeezes his hand. “But you like fixing them up.”

“That I do, Beautiful.” After a moment, he says softly, “I’m really glad you’re here, Rey. I didn’t like the quiet either.”

 


	2. Growing Pains and Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Poe hit a bump and start to understand each other more, and Rey gets a visitor.

After walking for a while, Poe asks, “What supplies do we have? Equipment?”

“Enough rations packs and bars for three days, four if we stretch it out. There is probably a flashlight down in the bottom of my pack. Water purifier; the medkit, and it’s well stocked; the extra bacta; and weapon-wise, the blaster I gave you, my blaster, my staff, and my lightsaber.” She gives him the inventory as they walk into a clearing, one with trees arching high over it almost like a cathedral, filtering light to a soft glow.

He stops walking, eyes wide. “Your lightsaber? You finished it?”

She grins, dropping the pack and peeling off her poncho. He sits down on a rock at the edge of the clearing, accepting the bottle of water she offers him. As he takes a drink, she steps back and unclips the saber. With another grin, she activates it, the light blue blade illuminating her face. Enjoying the freedom of being in an open space instead of the small space on the Falcon, Rey begins to move through the drills she would do back on Ahch-To.

BB-8 beeps out a sound that sounds a little like awe, and Poe watches her, mesmerized. He’s certain that he’s never seen anything as beautiful as Rey moving through the dark clearing, swirling and spinning, flipping her saber and turning again, the glow of the saber making her look almost ethereal. It’s a deadly dance, but lyrical in a way. And the happiness and ease rolling off of her makes it occur to him that how she feels right now, moving with her lightsaber, may be akin to how he feels in the cockpit of his X-Wing.

There’s a dead tree trunk on the edge of the clearing, and he can’t take his eyes off of her as she approaches it and pulls back multiple times before she spins and slices the trunk in half, the top part crashing to the forest floor. She deactivates her saber and clips it back to her belt, trying to catch her breath.

He pushes himself to his feet using her staff, and he limps across the clearing as quickly as he can. She turns as he approaches, and her flushed cheeks make him pick up some speed. Before she can ask what he’s doing, he reaches out and pulls her to him, crushing his lips to hers. She gasps in surprise, and it allows him to deepen the kiss. He drops the staff to bury one hand in her hair, the other going to her hip, pulling them even closer together. She clings to him, her arms going around his waist, giving as good as she’s getting.

After several minutes, they break apart, both short of breath. He presses his forehead to hers, watching her face until she opens her eyes to meet his. He breathes out, “Force, I missed you. And that was the sexiest, most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

She blinks. “I don’t scare you?” Her words are filled with self-doubt and fear.

“Of course not!” He slides his hands down to her shoulders, looking her directly in the eye. “Any man who can’t handle being with a woman who can kick his ass doesn’t deserve that woman anyway.”

He leans forward and kisses her again, hating the self-doubt and wanting to chase it away. Pulling back after a moment, he quietly offers, “I’m not hiding anything, Rey. Tell me if you feel any fear at all other than the fear that one day you’ll figure out that you’re way too good for this overly impulsive, headstrong pilot. The only thing that scares me is how much I love you, how much I find myself needing you.”

She shakes her head. “That will never happen, Poe Dameron, and you are so much more than that.” This time she kisses him. “And I love you so much that it scares me, too.” Stepping back slightly, she looks up at him. “I was a wreck once I started to feel like something was wrong. I know I worried everyone.”

He arches an eyebrow at her, and she snorts. “All right, I was a wreck within hours of you leaving, but I was a bigger wreck once I started feeling like something was wrong.” She sighs. “I know we haven’t been close for all that long, but I’ve gotten used to you being in my head. Even when we’re not talking, if you’re near enough, I can feel you, just a quiet buzz in the back of my head. The silence, the same silence I lived with for years on Jakku, was overwhelming.”

He nods. “I understand, and I feel the same way. We need to figure this out, Beautiful, because we’re not always going to be able to be in close proximity.”

She gives him a rueful smile. “I know. But can we do that later? Right now, we should probably get moving again, and I just got you back in my head. I don’t want you gone again, even in the name of figuring this out.”

He laughs softly. “Yes. We can do that later.” Before he can do it himself, she leans down and gets her staff, returning it to him. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She goes back to where she dropped her things, putting her poncho back on and shouldering into the pack. BB-8 rolls up to her and lets loose a series of clicks and beeps that make Rey laugh out loud.

Poe limps up, shaking his head. “Buddy, I don’t need a bodyguard, but yes, if I did, Rey would be ideal.”

BB-8 beeps in agreement, and he then reports that there are no signs of the First Order scouts. Rey furrows her brow and looks at Poe. “Maybe we should see if they can see any movement from up in the Falcon.”

He nods. “You know, they didn’t land until two days after I crashed, but I think there would be some scouts far enough out here to get here a lot faster than that.”

“Good point. So, you think it might just be a coincidence?”

He shrugs, wincing at the movement because he’s still a little sore all over. “I don’t know, but it’s starting to feel that way.”

“Let’s see if the Falcon is still in comms range.” She taps on her communicator, and he does the same. She says, “Finn, Chewie, Rose, are you there?”

There is some static, but then they hear Finn’s voice. “We’re here, Rey, me and Rose. We got Chewie to take a break. Are you both all right?”

Poe answers, “We are, Finn.”

They can almost hear the smile on Finn’s face at that. “Hey, Poe! I’m really glad we found you, you know?”

“You and me both, Finn.” He exchanges a smile with Rey before going on, “Finn, can you see where the First Order ship is? It’s fairly small, clearly a scout ship. I thought it was here for me, but we’re starting to think maybe they’re here for a reason other than my crash. Also, I only saw the one, but the tree canopy here is thick, as you know.”

“We haven’t seen any activity in orbit, Poe, but…” Finn starts.

Rose’s voice pipes in, “I can scan, Poe. Just give me a second.” Moments later, Rose says, “You’re right! I can pick up where they landed, and we can get a visual on the area around their ship. It doesn’t look like they’ve gone far. In fact, I can see some large equipment, maybe for excavation. There also appear to be two or three total ships, relatively small, but I can’t tell what class from here.”

Rey and Poe exchange a surprised look. She speaks into her comm, “Say again, Rose? Excavation?”

“That’s what it looks like,” the woman confirms.

They hear someone snap their fingers a few times. “Wait, wait, wait!” It’s Finn this time. “The First Order, back when I was still there, talked a lot about securing Outer Rim bases. Maybe they’re building an outpost here!”

Rey looks at Poe, who has a thoughtful look on his face. He looks up as he feels a strong wave of disapproval from her as she shakes her head. “No way, Flyboy.”

He blinks. “What?”

She huffs out a breath. “No. I know you want to do something stupid, and the answer is unequivocally no.” She puts her hands on her hips.

He tries (and fails) to look innocent. “Beautiful, it’s just some recon. That’s all.”

She throws her hands up in exasperation. “Poe Dameron, you are injured. You’re barely able to shuffle, let alone do recon, and you have a gash that covers more than half of your thigh. No!”

Crossing his arms across his chest, he furrows his brow at her. “Really. Is that an order? Because the last time I checked, you were my partner, not my boss.” His tone is harsh, the words backed by a wave of emotion, irritation and even anger, and it rolls over her.

Rey sucks in a breath. Her hurt at his tone and emotions hits him almost immediately, but before he can say anything else, he hears an angry voice in his ear. “Commander Dameron!” It’s Rose, clearly indignant. “You apologize this instant!”

Finn agrees. “Out of line, Poe. We’re closing the connection for now, but you better be nice to her. She can take care of herself, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to knock the crap out of you for that.”

Rey doesn’t say anything. She just walks away from him, moving out of the clearing and back into the woods. He drops his face into his hand. “Kriff.” He instantly regretted his tone, but that regret intensifies when he feels confusion from her in addition to the hurt. He knows that relationships are new to her, that he needs to be thoughtful about that, and he’s mad at himself for letting his frustration with crashing and getting hurt get to him.

“Rey, wait.” He follows her as quickly as he can with his leg still sore and tingling a little as the bacta does its work. He ignores the discomfort, though. “Rey, please.”

She stops walking, but doesn’t turn around. BB-8, who had been at his heels, beeps and clicks angrily at him before rolling over to Rey and stopping by her feet. Poe runs a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry.” He sighs. “I’m sorry, Rey. I’m tired, I hurt, and I’m frustrated, and I took it out on you. I know you only want to protect me, and I’m acting like a half-witted, scruffy looking nerf-herder.”

Despite her hurt and irritation with him, she snorts and turns to look at him. “What?”

He gives her a sheepish smile. “The general, according to legend, called Han Solo that once. I’ve been waiting my whole damned life for a chance to use it.” He limps over to her, and she looks down at the ground. He stops right in front of her. “I’m truly sorry, Rey.”

She looks up at him, tension radiating from her. “You won’t talk to me like that again, Poe. I will not tolerate it.”

He nods. “You shouldn’t.” Her tension ramps down a notch, and he takes a deep breath. “But,” her eyes narrow at him, but he goes on, “But Rey, respectfully, I know what I can handle. I do know you want to protect me, but I’m not an invalid, and I’m not a child. I know my body and what I’m capable of.”

“Your leg…” she begins to protest, but he cuts her off.

“Is already getting better, thanks to you and the bacta.” He tentatively reaches out and cups her face in his palm. “By tomorrow, it’ll be nearly healed.”

She frowns. “Poe, we don’t even know if there’s anything going on.”

“And maybe there isn’t. I’m not saying we necessarily go storm the place. I just want us to go check it out.” He brushes his thumb over her cheek, and his voice drops to a near-whisper. “I’m not going to do anything crazy, Rey. I’ve got a hell of a lot to live for these days.”

“Poe, I don’t need you to be a hero all the time. I don’t even want you to.”

He nods. “I know that, Rey. And that’s not what this is about. If it’s too hot or there is nothing we can see or do, we’ll leave. You have my word. But if we can stop the First Order from establishing a foothold out this far, even if we just slow them down, it’s worth a little risk.”

After looking at him steadily for a moment, she reaches up and taps her comm. “Finn, Rose, we need directions from our location to the First Order landing spot.”

Rose is prepared. She rattles off directions they can plot on the map she’d given Rey earlier. When Rose finishes, Rey explains that they’re going to go check out the site. It’ll take them a day to get there, assuming Poe is able to move faster in the morning. When they finish talking, Finn just says, “Rey, you all right?”

Poe looks down in embarrassment, wincing and rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. Rey takes his other hand, giving it a squeeze. “It’s fine, Finn. He’s forgiven. No need to hit him when we get back on the Falcon. Or to tell Chewie. I really like it when Poe is alive.”

They all laugh at that, and then they sign off, promising to check in at daybreak. The light is growing dim, and they need to find a place to safely rest and a water source. Half a standard hour later, they find both.

They come across a small stream, and above it on a protected rise, a small cave. Once Rey and BB-8 confirm that there are not animals already living in it (and Poe noted that in three days and change, he’s only seen a few very small creatures here), she helps Poe up the rise. They instruct BB-8 to power down for a while. Rey will activate him later so she can rest too.

As Poe pulls a ration pack out, she scrambles back down to the stream, filling up the two water bottles they have and dropping some purifier in each. When she gets back up, she checks his leg, which is indeed already healing nicely, changes the bacta patch and gives him another round of painkiller. A touch to his forehead also tells her that the antibiotics are working, as he’s not overly warm anymore.

They both choke down some of the food. He grimaces at the taste, while she eats hers fairly easily. “How can you stand this so well?”

She shrugs. “It’s all I ate for as long as I can remember. It’s not good, but you can survive on it.” She then gets up and spreads the tent out on the cave floor, trying to make him something at least a little soft to sleep on. “Come on, Flyboy. Nap time.”

He shakes his head. “I’ll sleep when you do.”

“No, you’ll sleep now.” At his stubborn expression, she says, “Poe, you will heal better with rest. I’m all right. I promise I will wake BB-8 in a few hours and then lie down with you for a few more hours. How much have you actually slept since landing here?”

“Crashing here. I crashed. There was no landing, unless you count me landing in a tree and then again on the ground when I fell out of said tree.” He shoots her a wry smile, but sits down and shrugs out of his jacket, balling it up to use as a pillow.

She chuckles at that, noting that he completely avoided the question. “Lie down, Commander Dameron.”

“You know, I’m pretty sure I’ve had dreams that started with those words.” He laughs and leers at her.

Rolling her eyes, she gently shoves him down on the tent-turned-bed, and she covers him with the blanket. She leans down, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “Sleep, Poe.”

Despite the fact that he wants to fight it, to stay awake with her, the combination of the last week and the painkiller catches up with him. After settling on his right side, he drops quickly into a peaceful sleep. Rey watches him sleep for a while, combing a hand through his hair. After a while, she quietly goes to the front of the cave, keeping an eye out for any predators, animal or otherwise.

Sitting on the edge of the rise, her poncho tucked tight around her, she watches for over two hours. Nothing comes. This is a quiet moon, no large creatures, no noisy birds. The only sounds she can hear are the sounds of the stream, the soft movement of the wind through the tree canopy, and the comforting buzz she always hears when Poe is nearby.

In the short time since they went from being just Rey and just Poe to being Rey and Poe, almost any guard he had with her has disappeared – any hiding, like him hiding his pain earlier, is intentionally done. She can feel him in her head tonight, his dreams jumbled and hard to follow, likely thanks to a combination of sheer exhaustion and the painkiller. But jumbled or not, they aren’t unpleasant. She realizes that he feels safe with her despite their situation. That thought makes her feel warm inside. In turn, his dreams soften further, and he sighs happily in his sleep.

She looks back at his sleeping face, and she is almost overwhelmed by relief again, relief that he is all right. They’ve only been sharing a bed for five weeks now, and they’ve shared quarters for three. After coming together the first time, they were nearly always together, only sleeping apart when he was gone on a mission. Leia eventually just asked if they could give up one of their rooms, given that their numbers were growing with new volunteers. Once they recovered from being embarrassed – Poe likened it to be caught by one’s parents – they agreed.

It’s a type of relationship she never even dreamed of, and now it seems as necessary as breathing. Even though she was upset by how he talked to her earlier, she’ll give him a pass this time. His remorse in that moment was near-instantaneous, and she could easily feel his sincerity and chagrin.

She blinks. Growing up as she did, the intricacies of personal relationships are something entirely new to her. Mentally, as she watches the forest closely, she tries to unpack all that has changed in her life. Meeting Poe, for certain, but also meeting Chewie and Han and watching Han die, finding BB-8 and meeting Finn, getting separated from Finn only to have him save her before she turned around and saved him right back, meeting Maz Kanata, meeting Rose, meeting General Organa, her experiences with Kylo Ren and Snoke, meeting Luke… She pauses on Master Luke.

She can almost feel him hovering sometimes. It’s oddly comforting. She also wonders if he’s helping protect her from further Force meetings with Kylo Ren. She stiffens when she notices a soft glow to her right, and then a voice makes her jump. “Actually, I’m not. Your bond with him is doing that.”

In shock, she looks towards the voice and sees a glowing image of Luke, and it is gesturing at Poe’s sleeping form. Before she can speak, Luke says fondly, “He wasn’t quite two when I met him. Even then, he was already jumping off of things, trying to fly. Shara started taking him up in part just so Kes wouldn’t have a heart attack. They were afraid he was going to scale up to the roof and jump off or something if they didn’t let him go flying with her. As a kid, he was almost purely positive – pure light. Always wanting to fly, and as he grew up, always wanting to do the right thing, even when it wasn’t popular. It drives Leia nuts sometimes, but she also values it.”

Rey blinks and finds her voice. “I can believe that about the flying. He’s almost ridiculously happy when he’s flying. It’s actually quite nice to fly with him, as his emotions are so positive it’s hard not to drown in joy.” She looks at him quizzically. “What exactly is happening here, Master Luke?”

He laughs. “I forgot that you don’t really know much about the Jedi. When we die, we stay alive in the Force, essentially. I can show up like this now and then.”

“You sacrificed yourself for us, didn’t you?” She looks at him, eyes shining.

He shrugs, an odd sight on his glowing image. “I didn’t necessarily know that it would kill me. It took everything I had left. But it was entirely worth it, Rey.”

“Maybe so, but we appreciate it nonetheless.” She gives him a sad smile. “Leia misses you. And Han. I think she’s having a hard time.”

“I know. I don’t know how to help her.” He returns the sad smile. “I miss her and Han, too. Miss the days when we were nearly inseparable. But I’m not here to talk about me.” She lifts an eyebrow at him, and he goes on, “I didn’t prepare you well for Kylo Ren and Snoke. I’m sorry, Rey.”

“You knew he was lost, didn’t you?”

Luke sighs. “I was nearly certain. He’s different from how my father, Anakin - Darth Vader - was. With my father, I sensed from the beginning that he wanted, in his own twisted way, redemption and acceptance. With Ben…he was angry his whole life. Leia is a tough shadow in some ways, though she never was too hard on him or held anything over him. From the time he was a baby, he wanted perfection.”

Luke looks over at Poe again. “I think it was hard for Leia – Ben wanted so much attention and validation. He wasn’t a happy child. She spent time with Poe a lot when he was a baby and toddler, and I think that was what she expected. Happy, curious, fearless. Ben was basically Poe’s opposite. To be clear, Leia wasn’t disappointed, she was just lost. And Han even more so. They tried so hard to make Ben happy, but they had no idea how. They both loved him so much, but it was never enough for him. And then I made it irreparable.”

Rey is surprised, but at the same time, it makes sense. “I know now that Snoke was manipulating my perceptions, but I also think Ben was too. All he wants is power and people to be afraid of him. He wanted me to think he had remorse, that he was conflicted. But what he really wanted was to use me to balance him - to be Light to his Dark. I don’t know much about the Force, but I’ve already figured out that it doesn’t work that way.”

“Say more,” Luke says, settling into teacher mode, sitting beside her. She’s surprised that it almost feels like a physical presence.

She shrugs. “You have to have balance inside. We all struggle with the things that are the Dark Side. I have anger towards my parents, and a selfish need to keep people safe, probably because I never really had people before. But I know I can’t sacrifice my soul to it. I can’t trade what’s right for selfish needs.” She looks over at Poe. “He knows that. He loves me, but he also is loyal to the Resistance. He knows what matters and does a decent job of balancing it. Better than me. Although I’m slightly better at listening to your sister than he is.”

Luke chuckles. “I imagine you are.”

Rey looks at him, cocking her head. “Why are you really here tonight?”

“You seemed a little lost. I will help you with that when I can.” He stands. “And Rey?” She looks up at him expectantly, so he goes on, “You may hear things about how the Jedi used to remain solitary…celibate.” She blinks in surprise. “It was mainly because it was believed that having someone would tempt you to gravitate to the Dark Side, and that it would also be a distraction. That is part of what happened to my father, but only part.”

“Why are you mentioning this?” She furrows her brow, afraid he’s going to warn her, ask her to give up her relationship with Poe.

“Because if you hear that nonsense, ignore it. You can stay in the Light and still love someone. In fact, I think solitude can be worse than companionship for a Jedi. We are a broody bunch. Don’t fall into that.” He looks over at Poe one last time. “And the Force seems to be aligned. Maybe the Force tree I gave Shara and Kes, that Poe grew up climbing almost every day, influenced it, but his Force-bond with you is truly unusual. He can probably do more, learn more, if you help him.”

“If he wants to. I won’t push it, especially not after what Kylo Ren did to him.” She looks down. “No one should have to go through that, but it’s far worse for those who can’t defend against it.”

“In case you were worried about it, Rey, that perspective is why you and Kylo Ren will never see eye-to-eye.” He begins to fade, but adds, “And I mean that in the best possible way.”

Before she can thank him for checking in on her, Luke is gone. Even as he fades away, she realizes that she can still feel him. It’s different from how she feels Poe or even Leia, but he’s there nonetheless. Shaking her head, she stands up, heading over to wake BB-8 up. It’s been a few hours, and she’s suddenly exhausted. BB-8 activates with a soft beep, almost as though he’s trying to be quiet and not wake up Poe. She pats him gently on the head, and he beeps happily in response. “Wake us both in a few hours, BB-8. Thank you.”

The little droid beeps out his equivalent of a “You’re welcome,” and he rolls to the mouth of the cave to keep watch. She removes her belt, taking her blaster and lightsaber off with it. She sets both the weapons within arm’s reach. She also pulls her poncho off, balling it up as a pillow just as Poe had with his jacket, and she takes her hair down, letting it fall loose.

With that, she crawls under the blanket, curling up against him. He doesn’t wake up, but he mumbles something that sounds like her name, reaching out and pulling her to him instinctively. She’s surprised by how comfortable it is to stretch out on the tent fabric. She turns in his arms, her back to his broad chest, so she can see the mouth of the cave. He pulls her even closer to him, spooning her up against his body. He’s warm, but thankfully not feverish, and she snuggles into his embrace.

She’s worried about tomorrow, worried that Poe could injure himself further, but she also knows he’s right. If they have an opportunity to slow the First Order down out here, they should take it. She shakes her head, deciding that worrying isn’t helping anything. Lulled by fatigue and the ease his presence, both behind her and in her head, brings, Rey sleeps.

 


	3. Let's Blow Some Stuff Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Poe talk more and reconnect in other ways, and then they blow some stuff up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: OK, four. But four will just be another epilogue. And here there be some mild fluff.

The next morning, Poe wakes before Rey. She’s completely still in his arms, her back pressed to his front. He can see out the front of the cave that it’s still mostly dark out, maybe just beginning to lighten. BB-8 notices that he’s awake, but Poe waves him off with a shake of his head. The droid looks from Rey to him and back again before beeping out a soft affirmative and rolling back to the entrance of their little cave.

It’s warm under their blanket, but her shoulder is exposed to the cool air. He gently moves an arm to pull the blanket up over her completely. She sighs but doesn’t stir, and despite the fact that they probably need to be up and moving, he buries his nose in her hair. Even in a cave in the middle of a forest, her hair smells like the sun to him.

It occurs to him that, in a very short span of time, waking up like this has become completely normal, even something he needs, after years of waking up alone. He was never a monk, but he never made a habit of sleeping around, either. It was rarely serious when it did happen. Now, this is his favorite part of every day. In the past week, waking up alone, he missed everything about her – the physical stuff is certainly part of that, but mainly it’s just her presence both next to him and in his head.

He blinks. It blows his mind that he could ever even want someone in his head again after Kylo Ren. For him, though, having now experienced both, he truly understands the difference between the Dark Side and the Light Side of the Force. With Ren, it was pain and violation. In his adult life, it was the single worst thing to ever happen to him. Disappointing Leia was bad too, but it was different. That, he did to himself.

With Rey, though, it’s like letting light and air into a dark, musty room. Being with her is like flying. It’s like breathing. He hugs her a little tighter, thinking about the prior day. He’d been so upset with her for jumping out of the Falcon, but when she was shaking and clinging to him, he suddenly understood. He also knows without question that he would have done precisely the same thing, though likely with slightly less success, seeing as he’s not on his way to being a Jedi.

Then he was terrible to her, lashing out in pain, frustration, and he can admit it to himself, embarrassment over crashing on the moon. It wasn’t his fault – he had no intelligence on the weather patterns here – but that doesn’t mean he was all right with it. Treating Rey that way, though, was not acceptable, and he is still very angry with himself about it.

He’s surprised to hear her murmur aloud, “Let it go, Flyboy. I already have.” She rolls over in his arms, peering up into his eyes with a heavy-lidded, still sleepy expression.

He brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes. “Easier said than done, Beautiful. I was almost painfully out of line.”

She leans up and presses a kiss to his lips before pulling back far enough to say, “Yes, and you were suitably and sincerely apologetic.” She pulls back a little further. “And I was being over-protective. That doesn’t excuse anything, but I know you know yourself and what you can manage. I should have respected that. I also know how dedicated you are to the cause, to the point of self-sacrifice.”

He sits up, bending his knees and pulling his legs up. She mirrors his position. “What? What’s wrong?” For once, she can’t read him except to see that he’s conflicted.

He sighs. “I have a history, as I’m sure you’ve heard by now, of going in half-cocked, not really paying enough attention to the things that might go wrong.”

“The dreadnought?”

He nods, relieved that he doesn’t have to tell her that story. “That, and the whole attempted-mutiny thing.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Good intentions, but neither of them were what you could call my finest hour, at least not from a leadership perspective.”

She leans her head on his shoulder. “But you also made them peel off the attack on the drill and led everyone after those, what did Finn call them? Oh yes, shiny crystal dog things. Which is how we found you all and got you all off of Crait alive.”

He chuckles. “He called them ‘crystal critters’ on Crait, but shiny crystal dog things…that’s so…Finn.”

“Isn’t it, though?” She looks at him, realizing something. “You have your leg pulled up. Is it better?”

He furrows his brow before extending his left leg out flat and pulling it up again. There’s a slight pull, but no pain. “I think it is.” He pushes the blanket away and gets to his feet easily before walking from her to the other side of the cave and back, smoothly and with no limp. “Got to love bacta.”

She motions for him to sit. “I’m going to say something else that is likely usually how the dream starts.” At his raised eyebrow, she blushes lightly and says, “Drop your pants.”

He laughs out loud, pulling his pants off and sitting on the folded-up tent so she can check his leg. When she peels the patch off, it reveals a closed, dark pink line, the skin knitted back together. “This is going to leave an impressive scar. We should probably use one more patch today just in case, and then I think it’ll be good.”

Nodding, he offers, “Despite initial reactions, I’m really glad you came and brought bacta patches, Beautiful.” He leans over and presses a kiss to her lips, deepening it almost immediately. When they stop to try to breathe, she reaches across him for the medkit, intending to pull out another patch and a little more bacta gel for some of his other cuts and scrapes.

He catches her arm and pulls her into his lap instead. She frowns at him, and then she blushes even darker red when he calls out, “BB-8, give us another fifteen,” he eyes her flushed cheeks and loose hair, “No, thirty minutes. Just keep an eye on things out there.”

The little droid beeps out an affirmative, and Poe grins at Rey. “Now, where were we?” He wraps his arm tight around her waist, and he leans down to drop a line of kisses along her neck.

“Poe, we can’t do this here,” she protests weakly, “We need to get going towards the First Order site.” Even as she speaks, she tilts her head to give him better access to the column of her neck.

“It’s still mostly dark, and we’re not exactly on a schedule here,” he mumbles against her skin, “And I really missed you, you know?”

She turns in his lap, straddling him. He thinks for a moment that she’s going to stand up, even hears her considering it, but then, with a wicked smile, she repeats her words from the night before. “Lie down, Commander Dameron.” Then she gently pushes him backwards onto the folded-up tent.

*****

Just under half an hour later, they both emerge from the cave fully dressed. They both are slightly flushed but almost embarrassingly languid and content. She’s also sporting a bruise on her collarbone. He has a matching one (retaliation) on his neck. BB-8 looks back and forth between them a few times before making his way down the rise to the forest floor, beeping out what is the binary equivalent of “I’m not going to ask.”

They both laugh, pulling ration bars from the pack and washing them down with water. He refused another pain injection, citing that he’s fine, but she did insist on one more round of the antibiotics, just in case. He has a fresh bacta patch on his leg, but it actually feels all right to him, just a little tight. He knows, for good or for ill, that the pull means it’s healing successfully.

His hair is as messy as usual, but hers is perfectly crafted into two buns, done for her by Poe. She can do it without a mirror, but with a promise from her that she won’t tell anyone (Leia would never let him hear the end of it), he asked her to teach him how to do it for her. He’s fascinated with her hair, and he loves doing it for her. For her, she never had someone to do it for her while growing up, and she’s surprised how cared-for it makes her feel when he does it.

They pack everything up in companionable silence, the connection they made earlier still humming between them. He knew before they started that the timing wasn’t ideal, but he’d felt a strong need to re-establish their physical connection. Their mental and emotional connection is essential, but the physical one is a close second.

Once everything is packed, she reaches for the larger bag. They still have the small one with is old flight suit in it, not wanting to leave that here as evidence of Resistance activity on this moon, the wreckage of his X-Wing notwithstanding. According to BB-8, the small fighter exploded in a fireball on impact, so there may not be much left to find there. Rey doesn’t like to think about that, think about the different outcome if Poe hadn’t been able to eject. She shivers at the thought, pulling her hand back and leaving the pack for a moment.

He picks up on her distress and comes over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “I’ll borrow your words, Beautiful. Let it go. I’m fine, and so is BB-8. We got out. I’d submit that it wasn’t even our closest call ever.”

“That’s not helping,” she replies gamely. He laughs softly, pressing a kiss to her temple before releasing her and going to pick up the pack. “I can get that!” she protests.

He shakes his head and shoulders into the pack. He hands her the smaller bag and her staff. “My turn, Rey. And since you are the one who is good with the staff and the lightsaber, I’d rather you be the less encumbered one. I can shoot a blaster just fine while wearing a pack.”

She begrudgingly agrees, heading down the rise to where BB-8 waits for them. He follows, gingerly at first. After several steps, he feels more confident that his leg is going to hold up, and he picks up his pace. When he joins them, Rey looks up at him. “It’s all right?”

He nods. “Tight but fine. No problem at all with the hill.” He shoots her a crooked smile. “And you’d know if I was lying.”

“Fair point,” she agrees, “Which way are we headed, Commander?”

He has the map in his jacket pocket, so he pulls it out, studying the notes he made on it from Rose’s directions last night. Pointing to their right, he pockets the map and starts walking. Rey follows close on his heels with BB-8 rolling out in front of them. As they walk, he taps his comm. “Falcon, you up there?” Rey does the same to listen for a response.

Chewie calls back almost immediately, making Rey laugh. “Any change in First Order activity, Chewie?”

Poe watches and listens, not for the first time dumbfounded that she can understand the Wookie. After a few minutes back and forth, Rey ends the connection. She looks at Poe. “Finn and Rose are taking a break. No activity in space or orbit, and nothing notable on the ground. Doesn’t look like they know we’re here.”

He nods, but something occurs to him. “How have they not picked up the Falcon?”

She shrugs. “They may not be scanning, but also, Chewie thinks they found a magnetic shadow from this moon’s planet. That may be what caused the storm that took you out. He’s monitoring for those, too.”

As they walk, she adds, “And I learned a lot of languages on Jakku. It was a junkyard, but a lot of trading went on between people from all different systems. I paid attention. Thought it might be useful in the future. Wookie is tough, though. I still miss things that Chewie says. He’s a patient teacher, though.”

“With you, maybe.” He thinks the Wookie likes him, but there are days that he’s not sure.

“He does like you,” she admonishes him, “He just doesn’t trust easily.” She goes quiet. “And I think you remind him a little too much of the past, of Han and even Luke.”

“I remind him of them?” He’s surprised by that. “How so?”

“I’d say the love of flying and the sometimes-cavalier attitude is all Han, and the earnest desire to do the right thing? That’s all Luke. So, it’s hard.” She smiles sadly at him. “The fact that the general endorses you? That’s a major point in your favor, and it helps.”

He felt something shift when she mentioned Luke, an odd buzz of nerves. “Rey, are you all right?”

“I want to tell you about something that happened while you were sleeping last night, but I’m afraid you’ll think I’m insane.”

He stops walking, and he stops her too with a gentle hand on her upper arm. “Not possible, Beautiful. What happened?”

“Do you know that Jedis’ bodies die, but they can essentially stay alive in the Force?” He cocks his head at her. “Like a spirit of sorts, but stronger than that,” she tries to explain.

He blinks a few times. “Like a ghost?”

“Sort of, but not exactly.”

“Why are you telling me this, Rey?” he presses her gently, sensing her hesitation.

“Luke showed up last night.” Her voice is soft, terrified that this will be the one thing that makes him run far and fast.

“I’m not going anywhere, Beautiful, but I need you to explain this to me, trying to remember that I’m pretty new to the whole inner workings of the Force business.” He squeezes her arm.

She motions to him to start walking again, knowing that they’re hours from the First Order site. She tries to explain what happened the night before, sharing most of her conversation with Luke. Poe rubs the back of his neck with one hand, smiling at some of the early memories. But he darkens at the discussion of Kylo Ren and the comparison of their childhoods.

When she’s done, he takes her hand firmly in his. “I wonder if I’d ever be able to see Luke like that? It would be nice, even if just to thank him for Crait.”

“You might. Luke thinks you’re capable of more than just our bond, but I told him it’s up to you whether we explore it or not.” She looks at him. “And I mean that. I promised to never push, and I stand by that. It would be your choice.”

“He thinks I can do more? Why?” He’s puzzled by that thought. Until he met Rey, the only time he truly felt the Force was when he used to climb… “The Force tree! Luke gave Mom and Dad the Force tree, and it drew me like a magnet as a kid. I climbed it all the time, and whenever I was up there, I felt different. Stronger, more connected.”

He pauses, and she nods at him to keep going. “Well, that was when I was an older kid, especially after Mom died. When I was little, it just made me happy. Scared the kriff out of Dad, though.” He smiles at that last thought. “You know, I never thought about it in this context before. Maybe that’s why I was able to have this bond with you?”

She shares the one last thing she hadn’t yet told him from her conversation with Luke. “I’m not sure, but Luke did say that our bond may be why I haven’t had any…visits…from Kylo Ren. He thinks our bond is protecting me.”

Poe stops walking again, looking at her. “Really?”

She nods, also stopping. “Really.” She gives him a soft smile, reaching up to push his hair back. “And I only thought I was grateful for it before.”

He takes her hand in his, pulling her into his body. Her arms go around his waist, her head to his shoulder just as his arms wrap protectively around her. “Me too.” He also realizes that he doesn’t even need to think about further training for him. “And when we get back to the base, we should keep working on our connection and maybe on me learning more.”

She pulls back enough to see his face. “Are you sure? You don’t have to.”

“I’m sure,” he confirms, “Maybe I can learn to do things like move stuff with my mind. That would be awesome.”

She laughs. “Yes. It’s quite awesome.” Shaking her head and going serious, she says, “But it’s all a continuum – learning to control the power, to direct it. And more than anything, I want to try to help you develop the ability to block anyone from reaching into your head again. I’m not sure how to do that, but we can try.”

He swallows hard. “I’d appreciate that.” Trying to lighten the moment, he adds, “But maybe then the moving stuff?”

She cups his cheek in her palm, leaning up to kiss him. “Incorrigible.”

“Yes ma’am.” He shoots her a cheeky grin before taking her hand in his and taking her with them as they begin to walk again.

After another two hours walking they take a break at her insistence, and she checks his leg. It looks even better than it did earlier, and he convinces her that the bacta patch can go. He doesn’t like it because it’s a little restrictive, but also because it can make noise when he moves. She smears the mostly-healed gash with bacta gel instead, and they get going again.

After a few more hours, they check in with the Falcon again, and all they’ve seen is some movement around the site that is pretty clear as Rose guessed, excavation. From what they can tell, Rey and Poe are getting close to the site. Poe tells BB-8 to hang back in the brush, but the little droid isn’t having it, following resolutely. At least years of following Poe around have improbably taught the astromech stealth.

When they get closer, they get low to the ground, Poe feeling very grateful that his leg is feeling all right. He’s also happy that Rey brought him clothes that blend in well with the terrain, and that her clothes do as well. BB-8 is low enough to hide well, but Poe thinks to himself that he needs to paint his little friend, making Rey snort softly. He smiles at that. When they both open their minds completely, as they are doing right now, they can hear each other effortlessly.

Creeping along, they get up to the edge of a rise, and Rey’s breath catches. Poe sees the site moments after her, but he saw it in her head first too. It’s definitely a base, complete with a small hangar, though still under construction. Poe thinks, “All right, it’s a base, but clearly they feel very safe.”

Rey nods. “No patrols,” she thinks back.

He scans the landscape, wishing for a pair of binoculars. “Sorry.” Her voice sounds in his head. “It didn’t occur to me to pack for base infiltration.”

He swallows a laugh and thinks back, “And you call yourself a Jedi. How about I look left, you right, Beautiful.”

She rolls her eyes and then begins scanning right, trying to think of a way to do damage. He notes the large antenna on the roof of what looks to be their first complete structure. It’s getting late in the evening, and they don’t see many people around, only two guards near the fighters and one at the antenna. Poe keeps looking, and then he gasps softly. She looks at him, and he gets a wicked smile on his face. He thinks at her, “Want to steal a TIE Fighter?”

“I see two large cargo transports and a second fighter, too. If we’re to get away clean, we’ll have to blow some stuff up,” she thinks back at him. His grin widens. She doesn’t even have to read his thoughts to know that he’s pretty all right with that. “We need a plan, Flyboy,” she admonishes him with her thoughts, “We need to take out that antenna, too, to make sure no one calls for help. And will BB-8 fit?”

He nods, thinking quickly. It’ll be a squeeze, but they can make it work. As she keeps an eye out, he tries to work out in his head how fast he can get the fighter up in the air, pick up Rey, blow up the other fighter and the transports, and get out of here. She already knows what he wants her to do. She thinks, “Yes, I can take out the antenna with my lightsaber, so long as there aren’t too many guards, and then lay down cover with my blaster if needed. And we shouldn’t use comms, just in case they’re scanning.”

“Agreed,” he thinks, “Time to test our distance ability, right?” He furrows his brow. “What if it’s like before, when I could hear you, but you couldn’t hear me?”

She grips his hand tight in hers, thinking, “I think you can do it. But if I’m having trouble understanding, I can tell you and just start asking you yes or no questions – that worked earlier, when you thought that warm wave towards me.”

He nods, thinking back, “All right. I’d dump the pack, but if this doesn’t work we need the supplies. We can stay tight together to that outbuilding,” he points, “Then separate. I’ll keep BB-8 and the pack with me, and we’ll get the fighter up. At least there’s no tether this time.” He pulls his blaster out, holding it in his right hand. She does the same with her lightsaber, but she doesn’t activate it.

She looks at him quizzically, and he flashes the memory to her. They both start moving towards as she shakes her head and thinks, “When we get back to the base, you two have to tell that story. It sounds like fun.”

On guard for Stormtroopers, he thinks back, “It was, right up until we got hit with a ventral cannon from the Star Destroyer. I woke up alone in the desert – the head wound I already had courtesy of the Stormtroopers probably contributed to that - and had to steal a small ship to get home the next day. By the time I woke up, you and Finn were probably on the Falcon with my droid.” He shoots her a wry smile as she blinks in surprise, remembering Finn’s explanation when she first met him on Jakku.

He gets a little ahead of her, but spins when he hears her gasp. Her thoughts basically freeze as a Stormtrooper gets an arm around her neck and presses a blaster to her head. She keeps her hand tight on her lightsaber, her thumb on the switch to activate it. “Drop your weapon, Resistance scum,” the trooper orders Poe. He clearly doesn’t recognize what Rey is holding.

At the same time, Rey thinks, “Play along, Poe. I can get him with my saber if he drops his hand at all, and that will be quieter.”

He blinks and thinks back an affirmative. He crouches, slowly lowering himself to put down his blaster. Then, out of nowhere, BB-8 rolls up. The trooper is distracted and swings his hand towards the droid, and that’s all Rey needs. She twists away from the trooper, activating her saber at the same time. In seconds, the trooper is dead on the ground.

“This whole hearing each other’s thoughts thing is pretty handy,” he thinks at her, and she nods. He feels a wave of regret and watches her deactivate her saber and bend down. “Rey, what’s wrong?”

She straightens up and turns, something clutched in her left hand. He comes up to her as she thinks, “I’m sorry. His arm must have pulled it off.”

He opens her left hand, and he sees his mother’s ring and the broken chain as well as a red mark on Rey’s neck from where it was ripped off. He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to her forehead before he takes the chain, leaving the ring, and slips it into his pocket. He takes the ring and slips it onto the second finger of her right hand, thinking, “It’s just a chain. It’s all right. Will it bother your saber here?”

Tears spring to her eyes at the sight of the ring, one that she knows means the world to him, on her hand. She mutely shakes her head, eyes wide. He kisses her forehead again and thinks, “Good. Now let’s hide the body and get going again before someone comes looking for him.”

She swallows a laugh and thinks, “You think the most romantic things, Commander.”

He winks at her, and together they drag the Stormtrooper into the brush, covering it completely. Poe then very quickly and quietly explains the plan to BB-8, explaining that the droid’s only assignments are to stay with him and then get into the fighter using his extension cables. The droid softly beeps understanding.

Moments later, they’re on the move again. Luckily, they don’t encounter any more troopers. When they get to the small outbuilding where they planned to separate, he looks at her and thinks, “This has to be fast if it’s going to work, Beautiful.”

She grins and thinks back, “Try to keep up, Flyboy.”

He gives her a quick kiss, and thinks, “Pick you up in a few?”

She nods, and with that, she begins to silently make her way to the antenna. He moves in the opposite direction, occasionally pinging her with a direct thought to be sure she can still hear him. Even as they get further apart, they’re both happy to notice that their connection isn’t wavering. She gets to a position on the roof of the complete building, hiding a few meters from the antenna, and thinks at him that she’s in place and there’s still just one guard.

He is similarly positioned near the fighters, BB-8 at his side, but he now has three guards to take out. When she hears that thought, she thinks back, “You’ve got the drop on them – you’ve got this, Poe. On three?”

He sends her an affirmative, and mentally counting down, they both go on three. At the antenna, Rey springs out of the shadows and dispatches the Stormtrooper guarding the antenna in seconds. She then goes to work on the antenna itself, using her saber to quickly sever all of the connections and then destroying all of the visible circuitry. She hears the sounds of a firefight, and she skids to the roof of the building where she is, dropping down to provide cover fire if Poe needs it.

At the same time, when they get to three, Poe immediately takes down two of the troopers in quick succession. The third has time to pull his blaster, so Poe has to stay behind cover while he fires at the trooper. As he and the trooper exchange blaster fire, he keeps moving towards the TIE fighters. When they get close enough, a shot from the antenna roof grazes the trooper, who has been joined by one other guard. Poe fires again, and the two troopers take cover. “Go, BB-8! Second fighter, I’ll cover you!”

Moments later, he’s crouched behind the first fighter, and he manages to hit one of the troopers just as Rey takes out the other. It’s quiet, so he bolts for the second fighter, climbing up into it just as BB-8 also gets himself wedged into the side panel. “Good job, Buddy.” After wedging the pack into the other side of the sphere from BB-8, he closes the hatch and fires up the TIE fighter, his first experience coming back to him immediately.

They’re in the air in seconds, and he spins the fighter, heading for the antenna roof. He hovers the fighter and opens the hatch, and he feels it when Rey leaps from the roof to the fighter. A moment later, she yells, “I’m in, Flyboy. Let’s blow up those ships and the hangar and get the kriff out of here!”

By then, there are some more troops outside, and they seem to have figured out what’s going on. “Weapons hot, Rey! Take out the other fighter first, then finish off the antenna, then the ground troops and cargo ships! If we have time, the hangar last!”

“Got it!” She takes the weapons controls, and after one errant shot getting the feel for them, she quickly destroys the other fighter and the antenna and the building it sat on. They’re using voices now, though they can still actively hear each other. It makes the fight much easier, as she can follow where he’s going mentally.

He gets her in position, and she destroys both of the cargo ships. There are more troopers on the ground now, trying to get their few large guns set up, but she takes them all out quickly. “Poe, go for the hangar!”

She feels them shift position, and she flips from laser blasts to a larger weapon. Two clean shots, and the hangar explodes. “Yes!” She lets out a yell, and he whoops. “Get us out of here, Flyboy!”

“Yes ma’am!” He flips them around and punches it.

He sees something on sensors that makes him kick hard right, and he must become so focused that he’s hard to read, because Rey calls, “Poe, what’s going on?”

He finishes turning them and starts a hard climb out of the atmosphere before replying, “I saw something on the sensors – it’s interference I saw right before the storm that took out my X-wing. Seemed a good idea to avoid it.”

“Can’t argue with that,” she agrees wryly.

“Kriff,” he says, pushing the small fighter harder.

“What’s wrong?” Rey asks, worried at his tone.

“Storm is big and fast. We’re going to be out of atmo soon. Can you call the Falcon and ask them not to shoot us? We also need to jump to hyperspace and then find a quiet place to land and scan this fighter for tracking beacons.” He’s leaning hard on the controls, just keeping them away from the leading edge of the magnetic storm.

“Was that first planet in this system clear? It seemed so when we stopped there first.”

He pings back a yes with his head, trying to keep his focus on the fighter’s controls. He has to swallow a laugh when he hears Rey call the Falcon and Finn’s spluttering response of, “Again?!?” when she tells them they stole a TIE fighter.

They jump to hyperspace a minute later, the Falcon close behind them. She breathes a soft sigh of relief when they do, and he mirrors it. After a moment, she announces, “I really don’t like this ship. I can’t touch you in it.”

He chuckles as he finally relaxes. “Yes, that’s definitely a drawback. But it’s really fast, too, which I really like.”

She shakes her head. “Just fly the ship, Poe.”

“Yes ma’am.” She can hear the grin in his voice, and she’s glad to feel the tension ease completely away from him. Acknowledging the feeling, he adds, “That moon was nice, but I’m glad to not be there anymore.”

“Again, can’t argue with that.” She smiles. “I can’t believe we pulled that off.” She knows she sounds like an excited child, but she can’t help the exuberant feeling of triumph bubbling up inside her. It was a small victory, but it was also just plain fun, as weird as that sounds.

He laughs out loud. “Hells yes, it was fun, Beautiful. And anytime you want to help me blow stuff up, I’m game.”

It doesn’t take them long to reach the next planet over, and he lands the TIE fighter smoothly in an open clearing. She doesn’t hide how impressed she is with the landing, and he just turns in his seat to shoot her a cocky grin. She rolls her eyes and climbs up out of the ship. He’s close behind her, and his boots hit the ground moments after hers and as the Falcon lands nearby. BB-8 clunks to the ground behind him shortly after that.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rose bounding down the Falcon’s ramp with a tracking scanner in her hand, but before she can wave to the mechanic, Poe catches her arm and spins her into him, kissing her for all he’s worth. That’s how they’re standing when Finn spots them, and she has to pull away laughing when she hears him yell, “Oh, come on! We all know you two do that, but it doesn’t mean we need to see it.” Poe laughs too, releasing her after pecking her on the lips one last time.

Even when they separate, her hand finds his, keeping them connected. Rose and Chewie, both laughing, approach to scan for a tracker. They’d love to bring the stolen fighter back with them, but only if it’s clean. Rose finds one tracking beacon, which they promptly destroy. They considered taking it up into space and shooting it out somewhere, but they don’t want to risk it.

When she looks up at them to report that the ship is now clean, her eyes widen, and she laughs again. When Poe and Rey exchange a confused look, Rose points directly at the bruise on Rey’s collarbone and its near-twin on Poe’s neck. Finn steps over to them just as Rose blurts out, “Are those…hickeys?”

Chewie growls. Rey shrugs, blushing lightly, but Poe grins and replies, “Yep.”

Once again, Finn just throws up his hands and responds with, “Oh, come on!”


	4. Delightfully Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They get back to the base with their stolen fighter, and Poe has a few realizations, some of them highly amusing to Rey, Leia, and others who know Poe well.

Despite Rey’s complaint that she can’t touch him when they’re in the TIE fighter, she and Poe fly their stolen ship back to the base themselves, with Chewie, Finn, Rose, and BB-8 following in the Falcon. BB-8 beeped out his disapproval of being left out of the trip with his two favorite carbon-based life forms, but they just laughed and sent the little droid to follow Rose, who he has also taken a shine to.

She wanted to fly the TIE, but he asked her tiredly if he could just get them home and teach her how later. She acquiesced immediately. Even if his voice hadn’t told her that the adrenaline crash had hit, his head did. Even so, she asked softly, “Are you sure? You could take a break, Flyboy.”

He brushed some loose hair behind her ear, answering a different question, the one he can tell that she’s really asking. “I’m all right, Beautiful. Just suddenly very tired. It’s been a long week.”

She nods, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips. She then turns and climbs up into the TIE fighter, giving Chewie a wave, signaling that they’ll see them soon. The trip will take longer than their trip to this system, because they want to stop at a few other systems, dropping out of hyperspace for some amount of time to see if anyone is tracking the TIE fighter.

They think it’s clean, but they want to be sure. They also are going to run a systems check every time they drop out of hyperspace, just to be sure the small ship is holding up all right. It’s going to be a long night, one preceded by a long day, and she’s a little worried about him pushing himself too hard.

He follows her into the TIE, and she laughs softly when his voices pings in her head. “Stop worrying, Beautiful. I can sleep some during the longer jumps.” He drops into the ship, leaning around and pressing a kiss to her temple, murmuring, “But thanks for the concern. It’s kind of nice to have someone care enough to worry over me.”

Before he can move away and into his own seat, she turns and takes his hand. “Poe, wait.” He stops, lifting an eyebrow at her. “You know Leia worries over you, too, right?”

He shakes his head. “I drive her crazy. I’m impulsive, I don’t always think about consequences…”

She reaches back and cups his cheek with her palm. “Poe, she loves you like family. How do you not know that? You’re right – you do sometimes frustrate her – but she wouldn’t bother with you if she didn’t think you were worth her time.” She smirks at him. “She’s a busy woman, you know.”

“Maybe so. But I have a hell of a lot to atone for, Rey. My screw-ups nearly got all of us killed. If I’d just trusted Holdo…”

Rey starts to say something, but she’s interrupted by Finn’s voice over comms. “You both all right? Your hatch is still open.”

Poe presses another kiss to Rey’s temple, then he moves to his own seat and turns on his comm as he closes the hatch and starts flipping switches to fire up the fighter’s engines. “Sorry, Finn. We’re good. Just were talking about something.”

Rey sighs and thinks at him, “And we’re not done, Flyboy.”

He echoes her sigh and thinks back, “All right, but not until we’re back.” He can feel her reluctant agreement, so he calls the Falcon. “All set, Falcon?”

Chewie’s voice rings over the comms, and Rey says, “That means they’re good to go.”

Poe just grins and shakes his head. “Even I got that one, Beautiful.”

Moments later, they’re in the air, and they jump to hyperspace not long after that. They zig-zag their way home, stopping multiple times to see if any First Order ships follow, confirming that they killed the only tracker on the TIE fighter. As promised, Poe manages to catch some sleep during two of the longer hyperspace jumps. Rey meditates then, working to keep her thoughts quiet and calm, but his words earlier worry her a little, the notion that no one else cares enough to worry over him, that Leia in particular doesn’t. Rey knows better, she just needs to get him to believe it too.

Before the last jump, the jump that will take them home, they send the others in the Falcon ahead, asking them to call the base and explain that a TIE fighter is on its way, and no, they shouldn’t blow it up. Rey and Poe wait about a quarter of an hour before jumping. As they sit, Rey can feel Poe getting restless. She quietly offers, “We’re almost home, Flyboy. Settle down.”

He chuckles. “Yes ma’am.” With a shrug, he adds, “I cannot tell you how badly I want to take a shower.”

“Good idea. You kind of smell.” She leans to her right and turns to look back at him.

He rolls his eyes and does the same, looking at her. “Really, Beautiful? You’re not exactly fresh and clean yourself.”

She smirks. “At least I don’t smell like a strange combination of blood, bacta, and a week-in-an-X-Wing.”

He rolls his eyes again and settles back in his seat, the twisting around hurting his still-sore body. As a twinge rolls through his left side, she frowns. “You know you need to let medical check you out when we land, right?” She can feel him protest before he says anything, so patiently, she goes on, “Poe, you said yourself that you hit a tree and then the ground. You need to let them check you over to be sure everything is all right. Honestly, do you think the general will allow you to not get checked out?”

She feels resistance for a moment, followed quickly by defeat. If she could see him, she would know that he nearly pouts, sinking in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. Petulantly, he mumbles, “You seemed to agree that I was healthy enough for most anything in the cave this morning.”

She laughs out loud and simply replies, fondness evident in her voice, “I love you, Commander Dameron.”

Crossly, he responds, “Love you too. But I still don’t want to go to medical.”

*****

Twenty minutes later, they land the TIE fighter just inside the hangar. Deeper in, the small hangar there isn’t quite tall enough to accommodate the TIE fighter. As they settle smoothly, Rey can already see a crowd amassing outside the fighter. The general is front and center. Rey chides him as they both turn to head for the hatch. “See, I told you people worry about you.”

He scoffs. “They want to check out the fighter, Rey.” He motions for her to climb out ahead of him as she shakes her head.

When she’s down, she can see Leia there, the older woman clearly relieved but still somewhat anxious. Rey can feel the woman’s tension, and it only dissipates when she sees Poe climb out of the fighter in at least fair condition. The moment his boots hit the ground, Leia is there.

Much to his very clear surprise, she wraps him up in a hug. After a moment, he returns it, even as he hears Rey’s voice in his head saying, “I told you so.” He’s not just surprised that she hugs him, but he’s also surprised to feel a wave of true affection mixed with relief from her.

When Leia finally releases him, she steps back, and he says, “I’m sorry, Leia.”

She shakes her head and arches an eyebrow. “For what, Poe? The weather? Even you, the Best Pilot in the Resistance, can’t magically make an X-Wing survive a magnetic storm.” She places a hand on his arm. “I’m just glad you’re all right.”

He finds himself a little out of sorts, swallowing hard against a lump in his throat. “Me too, General.”

“Now, go to medical.” She smirks at him. “And that’s an order I expect you to actually follow, Commander. I’m certain that our resident Jedi won’t let you skip it anyway. And seeing as I hear you hit a tree and then fell a long way, I am aligned with the Jedi.”

He looks over at Finn and Rose, who both laugh at the betrayed look on his face, before he hangs his head in defeat. “Yes ma’am.”

She laughs and turns to go, calling, “Nice new fighter, by the way. Good to have you back, Commander.”

“Good to be back, General.” As usual, they exchange a mock salute from him and an obscene gesture from her, making the assembled crowd laugh and cheer. Many of the pilots, the few of his long-term friends who are still with them, approach Poe, asking him a lot of questions and offering hugs, handshakes, or claps on the shoulder.

It’s a good twenty minutes before the crowd disperses, and when Poe’s tired eyes scan for her, she approaches him with what she knows is a knowing look on her face. “Still think people don’t care, Commander?”

He shrugs. “All right, I may have been a little melodramatic. But you know it’s different, Rey. I’m their leader, sometimes their friend, but not like I am with you and even Finn, and I’ve known them far longer. Part of my problem is that I’ve lived a little too long in the space between overall leadership and the pilot squadrons, no matter how good at it I am. It’s hard to connect when you aren’t a clear part of either group. I lead the pilots, but I’ve never had real authority beyond that.”

She puts a hand on his lower back and gently guides him the way she wants them to go, something he’s done with her and a move not lost on him, heading them towards medical. “But you do, Poe. Especially now. You can’t have missed the fact that you’re General Organa’s right hand and potential successor? Why do you think she’s so hard on you? She’s training you.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “I can’t be her, Rey. I can’t…”

She stops them and gently pulls him into a quiet side corridor. “You don’t have to, Poe. I’m entirely certain that if something happens to the general tomorrow, you will be the person the Resistance looks to.” He flinches, and she gently touches his face, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. She can feel his anxiety at that notion rolling off of him. “It’s all right if that scares you, Poe. But you need to talk to Leia, really talk to her. Understand what she needs from you, and what she wants you to be for her. I think – no, I know – you’ll be surprised. I can also promise you that you’ll find out that she didn’t know what she was doing at the beginning either.”

Poe shakes his head. “I don’t think I can do it. I’ll be alone. None of the other leaders are left. I mean, what, me and Connix?”

She takes both of his hands tight in hers. “You won’t be alone. Along with everyone else, you’ll have a Jedi-in-Training, a Wookie, a former Stormtrooper, a rather delightful little mechanic, and the most loyal droid I’ve ever seen standing next to you. We’re a motley crew, no doubt, but we all have your back.”

He has to laugh at that, and she looks at him quizzically. He explains, “I’m trying to imagine the recruiting posters. I can’t quite picture it. But given how odd it will be, we might as well go all the way and add some porgs, too. Maybe one sitting on Chewie’s shoulder and another on BB-8’s head. And I should look cocky and you equal parts exasperated and intimidating, so it will be natural and therefore inviting and resonant.”

She laughs, getting in on it. “And Finn should look confused yet determined, and Rose just determined. Chewie will look stoic. But he should get at least two or three porgs.”

He nods. “Perfect.”

Even though he still carries tension in his shoulders, she can feel his anxiety ramp down a notch. To be sure, she asks, keeping her hands joined with his, “Better?”

He leans in, pressing a kiss to her lips. “Better. Thank you.” Pulling back, he hesitates for a moment before saying, “I don’t know if I just imagined it, but I think I felt Leia’s emotions earlier.” She raises an eyebrow, and he releases one of her hands to rub the back of his neck. “And I’m pretty sure you were right.”

“About?”

He smiles sheepishly. “That she worries about me and cares about me like family.”

She returns his smile and tugs at the hand still in hers. “Yes, she does, and she’ll be checking with medical, you know, to be sure that you go. So march, Flyboy.”

He sighs theatrically but allows her to pull him towards the medical area. When they arrive, they realize that Leia must have told the doctors that they were coming, as the lead medic comes and takes Poe by the arm right away, Rey trailing behind. When the nurse tries to shoo her away, Rey shoots a protesting thought at Poe, but he was already ahead of her. “She stays or we both go.”

The nurse, a younger Corellian woman, huffs and agrees. The doctor just rolls her eyes. When the doctor asks Poe to undress, he pings a thought at Rey. “I like that a lot better when you say it.”

Rey swallows a laugh and helps him, waving off the nurse when she tries to do it. Down to his shorts, he hops up on the bed in the exam area he’s in. The doctor whistles at the new scar on Poe’s leg. “That’s a nice one, Commander.” She arches an eyebrow at him. He’s known this doctor a long time. She was lucky enough to be with them on the cruiser instead of the medical frigate, as she’d been the doctor looking after Leia.

He shrugs, trying to ignore the nurse, who seems to be staring at him. “Well you know, Doc, anything worth doing is worth doing well.”

Rolling her eyes, Rey settles next to him on the bed, sitting and watching the doctor but also cutting her eyes at the nurse. She puts a possessive hand on Poe’s back, making him shoot her a funny look. The doctor ignores them and starts cataloguing all of Poe’s cuts and scrapes, asking him if he’s in any pain. Rey nudges him, and he admits that his left side is still sore. The doctor calls for a portable scanner, and she also takes a blood sample.

Rey offers, “Doctor, I gave him two doses of antibiotics from the medkit. Before I cleaned it, the gash to his leg was a mess, full of dirt and debris, and he was warm to the touch when I found him. His temperature seemed to be back to normal that first night, but I gave him the second dose just in case.”

“You did well, Rey. Bacta gel and patches too, correct?” At Rey’s nod, the doctor adds, “Well, I’ll check his blood sample for infection, but the drugs in the medkit are pretty strong. You should be fine, Dameron.”

The nurse is hovering closer now, shooting unveiled dirty looks at Rey. Poe notices, and he thinks at Rey, “Do you know her? Because she really doesn’t like you.”

The doctor leaves with the sample, calling the nurse to follow and help with the test. As they go, Rey stands up, facing him, and thinks back, “Just how oblivious are you? She’s got a major crush on you, and I’m the competition.”

He blinks and stares at her. This time, he speaks out loud. “Are you serious?”

She just shakes her head. “No wonder they’re all intrigued by you.” She laughs, and when he looks even more confused, she explains, “They all think you’re playing hard to get, Flyboy. Won’t they be surprised when they sort out that you don’t actually play games like that, that you just don’t notice all that much that isn’t related to flying or the Resistance?”

He chuckles and cups her cheek in the palm of his right hand. “I noticed you.” He pulls her forward, getting her to stand between his legs and kissing her gently.

She smiles against his lips. When he pulls back and presses his forehead to hers, she replies, “I noticed you right back.” His hands slide to her hips, while hers rest on his bare chest.

The sound of someone clearing their throat makes Rey turn. The doctor is back, an amused expression on her face. The nurse is back too, but she looks far less amused. As the doctor approaches with a portable scanner, the nurse seems to be preoccupied with scowling at Rey. The doctor begins to use the scanner, she appears to notice the bruise on Poe’s neck. “Dameron, what caused this? Rey do you know…”

The woman’s voice trails off as she appears to spot the matching bruise on Rey’s collarbone. She lifts an eyebrow. “Hickeys? Really?”

Poe and Rey both blush lightly at being called out, but in unison, they reply, “Yes.”

At that, the nurse huffs and spins, leaving the exam area. The doctor chuckles, looking at Poe and then at Rey. “You’re welcome.” At their confused looks, she adds, “I saw them before. I don’t care. However, this base is full of admirers of both of you. The nurse is one of your fans, Poe.”

Poe shakes his head, laughing. “Thanks, Doc. But really, do they not get that Rey and I live together? We’re not simply roommates, for the Force’s sake!”

Rey smooths her hand through his hair as the doctor laughs again and continues her scan. “Poe, I told you that women are intrigued by you.” Rey ruffles his hair as she speaks, and he rolls his eyes.

“Really though, we live together!”

The doctor completes her scan, and Rey and Poe look at her expectantly. “Well, Poe, nothing is broken. You’re probably just going to be sore for a week or so. And, by the way, the general didn’t publicize your co-habitation, and your room is smack in the middle of the pilots, who don’t give a damn if you’re available or not. At least now it’ll hit the gossip circuit and then die out.” She pats him on the shoulder. “Get out of here. Come back if you need a painkiller tomorrow – you may stiffen up a bit. But for now, go shower, Commander. You kind of smell.”

Rey laughs out loud at that, and he just snorts and looks at the doctor. “So I’ve been told. Thanks, Doc.”

*****

An hour later, Poe is sprawled shirtless on his back in their bed, and Rey is draped across his right side. After he took his shower, alone (at Rey’s insistence, citing fatigue for both of them), Rey took one too. She’d gone and collected food for them both in the mess while he was getting himself cleaned up, and she’d noted with some chagrin that she was getting pretty serious side-eye from many of the women, one of them the nurse from earlier.

She’d just shaken her head and headed back to their room with a tray full of fresh food, something both of them wanted after a few days of rations. BB-8, who had been with Rose and Finn, found her in the mess and followed her home, beeping happily. She’d also run into the general in the mess, and the older woman had hugged Rey and sent the glowering group of women scattering with one raised eyebrow. “Don’t let them bother you, Rey.”

Rey had shaken her head and sighed. “They don’t, but Poe is baffled by it.”

With a chuckle, Leia had grabbed a cup of caf and replied, “Unless it was about flying, fixing his X-Wing, or anything specific to the Resistance, our dear commander rarely noticed, at least until you. He really is delightfully oblivious sometimes.” Leia had smiled softly at her then. “He has his mother’s eyes. She was stunning.” With a wistful look, she’d patted Rey on the arm and wished her a good night, telling her that they had the next day off.

Now, with BB-8 charging quietly in the corner, she and Poe are still awake. His eyes are closed, and she traces invisible patterns on his chest, making him sigh contentedly. He offers, “As much as I really, really enjoy some of the other things we do alone together,” she laughs softly, and he goes on, “I think these moments are my favorite.”

“Same,” she agrees. “Poe?”

“Hmm?”

She hesitates before asking, “Do you have any holos or pictures of your mom and dad?”

He opens his eyes and looks at her. “Sure. I can pull some out tomorrow. Why?”

“I ran into the general in the mess, and she said you have your mother’s eyes. I just suddenly realized that I don’t know what they looked like,” she pauses, taking a deep breath, “I can’t remember much of anything about my own parents. I just would like to be able to have something in my head, a picture of what a happy family can look like…”

She trails off, and he presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Let me try one better, Beautiful.” He pulls on her slightly, making her lift her head to press her forehead to his. With his left hand, he reaches over and extinguishes the main light in the room. “Just close your eyes and relax.”

She does as he asks, and he closes his eyes too, trying to focus on a good day he can remember from back when he was seven, when his mom and dad spent a day with him in the jungle on Yavin 4. He tries to show her the memory, to share it with her. He replays parts of the day in his head, focusing in on images of his parents and on how happy the day was. She gasps softly, clinging to him, his memories flooding her head.

Tears spring to her eyes, and she can’t stop it when they escape. He notices immediately, but he can tell that she isn’t really sad or distressed. “What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head, swiping at her eyes. “Nothing. I’ve just never...” She peers up at him in the dim light from BB-8’s charging station. Giving him a weak smile, she says, “She was beautiful.”

He wipes away the wetness on her cheeks with his thumbs. “Yeah, she was,” he replies softly. “It wasn’t great all the time after she died, but Dad tried his best. He missed her so much, though. We both did.” His hand goes to the ring on Rey’s finger. “You know, that first night up on the lookout, when we Force-connected the first time, I couldn’t help but think of her. You remind me of her, you know? But after you kissed my cheek in the hallway, I swear I could hear her laughing at me. I think I was already halfway in love with you.”

“Why would that make her laugh at you?”

“You’re the one who noticed my whole not paying much attention to anything but my X-Wing and the Resistance thing – I really am not kidding with you that I never noticed what everyone else seems to about women and how they appear to be interested in me.” He looks at her closely. “I was actually thinking about it in the shower. I realized that I didn’t notice you as a woman when I met you, I noticed you as, well, you. And Mom definitely would have been amused.”

“I wish I could have met her.” Rey looks up at him. “And your dad.”

He gives her a funny look, but leans down and kisses her. “She would have loved you. Dad’ll love you too. Maybe just because you push me in the same ways they used to. Push me to be more, to try harder.”

She nestles back into his side, pulling a blanket up over them both. She goes back to tracing patterns on his chest. “Poe, can we go to Yavin one day? To let me see the Force tree?”

“Of course, Beautiful.” He presses a kiss to the top of her head. “Maybe if we ever get the Resistance to a better place, more stable, we can disappear for a few days. I owe Dad a visit anyway.”

She sits up, looking at him. “Wait. Your father is alive?”

He pushes up on his elbows. “Yes. You though he wasn’t?”

“You never said!” She furrows her brow at him.

“Beautiful, you never asked.” He gets a bemused smile on his face. “Dad is still on Yavin 4. He never really wanted to leave after Mom died. I haven’t seen him in a long time, but he knows about you.”

“How?”

“I talked to him right before I left on the scouting mission. Leia made me call him – I think you were out working on the Falcon with Chewie. I hadn’t talked to him in a while.” He looks sheepish. “I didn’t want to tell him everything that happened. If he knew about me being captured by the First Order, he might have shown up at Leia’s doorstep to give her a piece of his mind.”

She runs a hand through his hair. “You didn’t tell him?”

“No. He worries enough as it is.” He lets himself fall back onto the bed, and she lies down on him again, her head on his shoulder. He reaches up, running a hand through her hair. “It never occurred to me that you didn’t know he was still alive, Beautiful. I should have said something.”

“It’s all right. You can make it up to me by taking me to meet him. Maybe Chewie, Finn, and Rose can come too.”

“Maybe…” Something hits him, and he blinks a few times. “You know, it was an old base. I wonder if there’s anything salvageable there? There were a lot of battles there after the first Death Star was destroyed and the Rebellion moved the base to Hoth, but anything we can find now might be useful.”

“But hasn’t it been abandoned for over,” she begins.

He finishes, “Thirty years. Yes. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be anything there. Once the battle moved to Endor, they stopped paying attention to it. When we moved there after the war, the old base was mostly ignored.” He yawns then.

Rey moves to settle in, echoing his yawn. She smiles when she feels his head start to go fuzzy, something she’s started to notice when he’s falling asleep. “Let’s talk to General Organa in the morning. It’ll keep until then.”

He slides down a little in the bed, wrapping his arms around her. “Sounds good,” he mumbles, pulling her close, nuzzling his face into her neck.

She feels a wave of affection, sighing in his arms as she feels him slide into sleep. “Goodnight, Flyboy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Last chapter – more fluff, more Poe and the Force and Leia. And yeah, maybe setting up at least one more story.
> 
> Disclaimer per usual – I do not own Star Wars or any aspect of the SW universe; just a fan with an idea. No profit here, just fun for me.


End file.
